I don't visit the Commons much anymore so I didn't really catch this thread until now.

I don't like mutants as an explanation for superpowers. Bugs the crap out of me, primarily because it's explained away as evolution, but evolution has some sort of rhyme or reason for it, and usually relates to adapting to an environment. Except for healing factors, strength, maybe increased reflexes and better eyesight, smell and tastes... really where's the need for eyebeams shooting out of your eyes, or the power of flight. (Not without wings on THIS planet).

I don't get or care about the argument for exaggerated proportions on heroes. For me that's almost a given unless you're a circus acrobat like Nightwing. But really, it drives me crazy to see Wonder Woman beefed up to look like a man in drag.

Batman bugs me too. Nobody's THAT good. And as for Superman, way too powerful in my opinion. I could live with him stopping Locomotives or even lifting airplanes, but moving a the moon, or a planet? Nah.

Finally, what 4 superpowers would I want? Easy, Flight, super strength, invulnerability, and Batman's power of Super wealth.

What would be the above hero's powers, origin and secret identity, I wonder?

Let me guess. He previously worked at a strip bar and then one evening during one of his performances he got bitten by a rabid female fan, which triggered dramatic hormonal changes in his system, giving him the special power of super-seduction. Now he could seduce anyone he liked and no one could resist, meaning he could easily mesmerize any crook or street thug into willingly submitting to his will. %-P

But really, it drives me crazy to see Wonder Woman beefed up to look like a man in drag.

Ditto. Can't stand gals built so much like guys that the only difference is the breasts.

Batman bugs me too. Nobody's THAT good. And as for Superman, way too powerful in my opinion. I could live with him stopping Locomotives or even lifting airplanes, but moving a the moon, or a planet? Nah.

Semi superhero related. Sadie's daydreaming causes Sam to get the business end of her boot. In the inset the Supersuit was used for Sadie's top with the Supersuit cape. Doesn't every kid dream of being a superhero at least once? Full-sized version available on my DeviantArt account, link in sig.

I just saw the new Batman movie and I was swept away!
I am a sucker for superheroes, so my oppinion is clouded anyway!
But I wondered after what the psycellical explaination is for a big part of those heroes are either banned from their parents or are orphans!?

On a side track, anyone ever saw the HISHE animations on YouTube?
They are brilliant!

EDIT
I wrote psyce, psycho...erm..psychoci...THAT thing inside of you that gets screwed up when you experiencing trauma, wrong didn't I?

Few people wake up one day and decide to be a superhero. I think most of them start off as orphans in order to give them a reason to protect people. It's a bit contrived in this day and age, but no matter which superhero you look at, there's almost always at least ONE tragedy which prompts them to battle crime.

But it can still be some other (kind of) story besides the 'orphan' trope, I'm sure.

And there are some heroes who didn't start off in their careers being inspired by any special tragedies AFAIK. The two early incarnations of the Flash, for example, namely Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. Or the superheroine Isis (my personal favorite).

But it can still be some other (kind of) story besides the 'orphan' trope, I'm sure.

And there are some heroes who didn't start off in their careers being inspired by any special tragedies AFAIK. The two early incarnations of the Flash, for example, namely Jay Garrick and Barry Allen. Or the superheroine Isis (my personal favorite).

To be fair, Barry Allen worked for the police before he became the Flash so he already had a strong sense of morality and law. I got nothing on Jay Garrick though. His origin story is wacky at best, but you're right in saying he doesn't come from a broken home or have any major trauma which triggers his crime fighting.

Come to think of it, many superheroes did indeed start off as orphans or being separated from their parents when very young. Wonder why comic writers always like this?

And surely there must be at least a few heroes/heroines from warm, non-dysfunctional families?...

My guess?
The same reason they seldom have spouses and children; too many story-lines where they have to spend too much time protecting them from their enemies.
Loved ones and wives/husbands make excellent victims that drive the hero mad, or convince them to take their power more seriously.
Ion's (Kyle Raynor) girlfriend's (Alex) body in the fridge comes to mind. I'm sure you can think of more.

Loved ones and wives/husbands make excellent victims that drive the hero mad, or convince them to take their power more seriously. Ion’s (Kyle Raynor) girlfriend’s (Alex) body in the fridge comes to mind.

Ah, such is the sad reality faced by every superhero/heroine...

Would love to see TimG render a pic of his super-erotic hero finishing off some bad guy with some super-erotic move, by the way. Maybe sandwich the bad guy's head between his muscular thighz (slurp, drool)... %-P

I believe it's THIS volume in the Capt Underpants series (see below). :lol: It's just hilarious how superheroes can be made the stuff of such vulgar and irreverent humor. Oughta be a great way to remind you that they're after all the creations of our imagination!

It moves me to tears, by the way, to note that people are still interested in this thread after this long while... ;-)

Yep, that's the one. I can't believe how many posts I've missed. I haven't had any notifications for this thread for a long time.

I don't visit the Commons much anymore so I didn't really catch this thread until now.

I don't like mutants as an explanation for superpowers. Bugs the crap out of me, primarily because it's explained away as evolution, but evolution has some sort of rhyme or reason for it, and usually relates to adapting to an environment. Except for healing factors, strength, maybe increased reflexes and better eyesight, smell and tastes... really where's the need for eyebeams shooting out of your eyes, or the power of flight. (Not without wings on THIS planet).

I don't get or care about the argument for exaggerated proportions on heroes. For me that's almost a given unless you're a circus acrobat like Nightwing. But really, it drives me crazy to see Wonder Woman beefed up to look like a man in drag.

Batman bugs me too. Nobody's THAT good. And as for Superman, way too powerful in my opinion. I could live with him stopping Locomotives or even lifting airplanes, but moving a the moon, or a planet? Nah.

Finally, what 4 superpowers would I want? Easy, Flight, super strength, invulnerability, and Batman's power of Super wealth.

Most of my characters are mutants, but it's not from an accident of evolution. Someone (of a non-divine nature) was behind it.

Exaggerated proportions bug me, unless there's a good logical reason for it. And I prefer my women to not look like men. And vice versa.

Superman's strength has been knocked down and bumped up so many times over the years, it's hard to say what his current 'official' strength is. But I agree, a character shouldn't be able to move planets around.

Ditto. Can't stand gals built so much like guys that the only difference is the breasts.

I know a woman who looks like that. Not muscular, but she's built like a man with 'huge tracts of land', has a very mannish face, and has hair not much longer than a crew cut. In a loose top, she has been mistaken for a man before.

Come to think of it, many superheroes did indeed start off as orphans or being separated from their parents when very young. Wonder why comic writers always like this?

And surely there must be at least a few heroes/heroines from warm, non-dysfunctional families?...

I wonder how much of it is that the creators don't want to take the space out of their limited page count to deal with interpersonal relationships in great detail? It's a lot easier to have single characters with no family to speak of, and focus on the fighting.

Not to say that's always the case, but it seems that when a character does have a stable relationship & family, a later writer will come along and either mess it up, or retcon the relationships out of continuity. When John Byrne did the Fantastic Four years ago, he wanted to kill off Franklin Richards, but wasn't allowed to. That's why he had Sue & Reed have a second child, who died while Reed was fighting Doctor Octopus.

Loved ones and wives/husbands make excellent victims that drive the hero mad, or convince them to take their power more seriously. Ion’s (Kyle Raynor) girlfriend’s (Alex) body in the fridge comes to mind.

Ah, such is the sad reality faced by every superhero/heroine...

Would love to see TimG render a pic of his super-erotic hero finishing off some bad guy with some super-erotic move, by the way. Maybe sandwich the bad guy's head between his muscular thighz (slurp, drool)... %-P

Hmmm, that reminds me of the villainess in the one James Bond movie, who would kill her victims that way.

Pity they never dressed Aquaman up like that. Just the thought of it makes me drool... %-P

And hey, how about showing some of the heroes/heroines you created? (Doesn't matter to me whether they're rendered or hand-drawn.)

Okay, here's two quick renders of three of the male characters; two of them aren't wearing much. There are things I'm not happy with on the outfits, but these are close to what's in my head. The second render is the right-hand guy from the first render, at three different sizes. He grows by summoning and merging with his counterparts from parallel realities, so he gets more disproportionate as he gets bigger. I don't have uniforms done for the rest of the team (18 members), so the only renders I have are of them in bathing suits.

Would love to see TimG render a pic of his super-erotic hero finishing off some bad guy with some super-erotic move, by the way. Maybe sandwich the bad guy's head between his muscular thighz (slurp, drool)... %-P

Hmmm, that reminds me of the villainess in the one James Bond movie, who would kill her victims that way.

Or a certain (female) Street Fighter. (Hint: she's one of the most disgustingly dressed.) And I understand Bond got that villainess' two hamburger patties roasted (if you get what I mean)? %-P

Can't stand Bond, by the way. Snobbish, classier-than-thou womanizer with little regard for human life. And NEVER lands in a situation he himself can't get out of. The stench of British superiority just didn't appeal to me, either. As Michelle Yeoh (who acted in another Bond movie) once said in an interview when asked what she would do if she met the REAL James Bond, "I'd shoot him outright."

Getting back on our favorite topic, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about some REAL LIFE superheroes in the States. Such as THIS one. :-) Pity they can't have any real superpowers... (Or can they?...)

I've been really busy of late, too. I had several unexpected large expenditures come up, so I'm working all the overtime I can get, so my budget doesn't get completely screwed up.

It's not just four arms, I just like strange things. The four-armed guy in the render was supposed to have six arms, but I couldn't make it work without stretching the torso to a point that it just didn't look right. I think the thing that sparked my interest in the extra limbs thing was an old Jimmy Olsen story where he grew (or dreamed he grew, I can't remember after all these decades) two extra pairs of arms. Some years later DC did some of Burroughs' Mars stories, and the four-armed green Martians also fascinated me. I didn't catch the Aquaman similarity until you pointed it out; I think a lot of it might be the color of the pants, and the shader I used on them.

Would love to see TimG render a pic of his super-erotic hero finishing off some bad guy with some super-erotic move, by the way. Maybe sandwich the bad guy's head between his muscular thighz (slurp, drool)... %-P

Hmmm, that reminds me of the villainess in the one James Bond movie, who would kill her victims that way.

Or a certain (female) Street Fighter. (Hint: she's one of the most disgustingly dressed.) And I understand Bond got that villainess' two hamburger patties roasted (if you get what I mean)? %-P

Can't stand Bond, by the way. Snobbish, classier-than-thou womanizer with little regard for human life. And NEVER lands in a situation he himself can't get out of. The stench of British superiority just didn't appeal to me, either. As Michelle Yeoh (who acted in another Bond movie) once said in an interview when asked what she would do if she met the REAL James Bond, "I'd shoot him outright."

Getting back on our favorite topic, I was pleasantly surprised to learn about some REAL LIFE superheroes in the States. Such as THIS one. :-) Pity they can't have any real superpowers... (Or can they?...)

I hadn't seen that one before, but I have seen some stories about other real-life superheroes. It's interesting, but I don't think I'll be putting on spandex any time soon (and the world will be a much prettier place for me making that choice...).

I'm kind of ambivalent about the Bond stuff. I won't go out of my way to catch the movies, but if one comes on tv and there's nothing else to watch, I might watch it.

I'm not familiar enough with Street Fighter to know what character you're referring to. I may have to look it up later. Not that I'm going to be awake much longer.

It's not just four arms, I just like strange things. The four-armed guy in the render was supposed to have six arms, but I couldn't make it work without stretching the torso to a point that it just didn't look right.

Perchance you could superimpose two copies of the same guy in exactly the same spatial position, identical in every respect except the arm poses?

And if you think four arms is difficult, try rendering the figure shown below. :lol: Love this goddess, by the way. She was actually originally a he -- Avalokitesvara, Buddhist personification of compassion. But when Buddhism spread to China, the Chinese turned him into a her and named her Guanyin, 'Hearer of Cries (for help)'.

I hadn't seen that one before, but I have seen some stories about other real-life superheroes. It's interesting, but I don't think I'll be putting on spandex any time soon (and the world will be a much prettier place for me making that choice...).

Go pay the gym a regular visit and in a few months the world might be a prettier place WITH you putting on spandex. Who knows? ;-)

Alternatively, perhaps one could have his whole person translated into digital code and then saved into a computer, where he could then be brought into DAZ Studio as a Genesis figure to have his figure, face etc all modified with extreme precision in whatever way he wished. No need anymore for the trouble of dieting, visiting the gym etc. Hey, this oughta make a clever storyline for a comic series, yeah?

It's not just four arms, I just like strange things. The four-armed guy in the render was supposed to have six arms, but I couldn't make it work without stretching the torso to a point that it just didn't look right.

Perchance you could superimpose two copies of the same guy in exactly the same spatial position, identical in every respect except the arm poses?
I had tried that, I didn't care for the results I got. Maybe I should give it another go, now that I know studio a little better.

And if you think four arms is difficult, try rendering the figure shown below. :lol: Love this goddess, by the way. She was actually originally a he -- Avalokitesvara, Buddhist personification of compassion. But when Buddhism spread to China, the Chinese turned him into a her and named her Guanyin, 'Hearer of Cries (for help)'.

I hadn't seen that one before, but I have seen some stories about other real-life superheroes. It's interesting, but I don't think I'll be putting on spandex any time soon (and the world will be a much prettier place for me making that choice...).

Go pay the gym a regular visit and in a few months the world might be a prettier place WITH you putting on spandex. Who knows? ;-)

I have started walking every day, and my pants are getting looser. I've cut way back on soft drinks, too, and I'm drinking a lot more plain old water. I don't think I'll be putting on spandex, though, no matter what kind of shape I get myself into. If I can get back to wearing minimal clothing by the time Pennsic comes around (late July this year), that'll be good enough.

Alternatively, perhaps one could have his whole person translated into digital code and then saved into a computer, where he could then be brought into DAZ Studio as a Genesis figure to have his figure, face etc all modified with extreme precision in whatever way he wished. No need anymore for the trouble of dieting, visiting the gym etc. Hey, this oughta make a clever storyline for a comic series, yeah?

Hmm, that sounds like a good idea for a new Tron movie. They already got the digitizing people part down. If I could be digitized, modified in DAZ studio, then brought back to the physical world, I'd have a field day with it. Especially with Look At My Hair. That plugin would get a lot of use from me.

Pity they never dressed Aquaman up like that. Just the thought of it makes me drool... %-P

And hey, how about showing some of the heroes/heroines you created? (Doesn't matter to me whether they're rendered or hand-drawn.)

Okay, here's two quick renders of three of the male characters; two of them aren't wearing much. There are things I'm not happy with on the outfits, but these are close to what's in my head. The second render is the right-hand guy from the first render, at three different sizes. He grows by summoning and merging with his counterparts from parallel realities, so he gets more disproportionate as he gets bigger. I don't have uniforms done for the rest of the team (18 members), so the only renders I have are of them in bathing suits.

I believe you made a small error in providing that link, SmallFry. It should have been [ u r l = ....] written text [ / u r l ]. I just corrected that for you so that the link now works. ;-)

Heard of the Micronauts before, but never got to become familiar with them. Care to share some info about them?

And hey, how about sharing as well your views and ideas on all those guys and gals who fly and run and swim around in spandex? Which ones do you like, which turn you off, why, and what sort of hero would you like to be?

Pity they never dressed Aquaman up like that. Just the thought of it makes me drool... %-P

And hey, how about showing some of the heroes/heroines you created? (Doesn't matter to me whether they're rendered or hand-drawn.)

Okay, here's two quick renders of three of the male characters; two of them aren't wearing much. There are things I'm not happy with on the outfits, but these are close to what's in my head. The second render is the right-hand guy from the first render, at three different sizes. He grows by summoning and merging with his counterparts from parallel realities, so he gets more disproportionate as he gets bigger. I don't have uniforms done for the rest of the team (18 members), so the only renders I have are of them in bathing suits.

Nope. I read the Micronauts comic when it came out (I was in college back then), but I created the four-armed guy when I was in 7th or 8th grade. Long before the Micronauts toys were even out. Over in this thread (http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/13364/) it looks like Etujedi is thinking about doing an expansion to Four Arms for Genesis, including six arms, so I may actually be able to get this character to look a lot more like I had originally envisioned.

The new Freak 5 products look like they could be useful for some of my characters, an old villain in particular. We'll have to see after I pick F5 up.